43 primates on the loose in South Carolina town after escaping from research lab
Yemassee Police Department via Meta
(YEMASSEE, S.C.) — At least 43 primates were on the loose Thursday in a South Carolina town where authorities “strongly advised” residents to keep their doors and windows locked after the animals escaped from a research laboratory.
“At this point, none have been captured,” the Yemassee Police Department said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.
Traps were being set around the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center in Yemassee, where the Rhesus Macaque monkeys escaped en masse around 9:45 p.m. ET on Wednesday, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Yemassee police officers were searching for the furry fugitives, which can grow to up to 21 inches tall and weigh 17 pounds, using thermal imaging cameras, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secured to prevent these animals from entering homes,” the sheriff’s office said. “If you spot any of the escaped animals, please contact 911 immediately and refrain from approaching them.”
Police said they are working with staff of Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center to find the escapees.
“We want to assure the community that there is no health risk associated with these animals,” police said.
Representatives of the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center could not be immediately contacted for comment.
According to its website, Alpha Genesis “provides the highest quality nonhuman primate products and bio-research services world-wide,” including serum, plasma, whole blood and tissue samples.
(WASHINGTON) — While Election Day is finally here, more than 83 million people have already cast their ballots.
Election Day was trending on the busy side, with roughly half of the 161.42 million registered voters still heading to the polls.
In Georgia, one of seven key swing states, long lines were forming outside polling stations, officials said, despite more than 4 million people in the Peach State having already voted.
In Fulton County, Georgia’s most populous county, which includes the city of Atlanta, nearly 30,000 people had cast their in-person ballots by 9:40 a.m. Tuesday, a little more than three-and-a-half hours after the polls opened at 7 a.m., said Nadine Williams, the Fulton County director of registration.
“All polling sites are secure with an active security presence,” said Williams, adding that the county had received five “non-credible” bomb threats Tuesday morning, two of which prompted the evacuation of voting locations for about 30 minutes each.
“Outside of these brief interruptions, Election Day has been quiet, with minimal issues reported and we remain prepared to address any misinformation or additional disruption to ensure a smooth experience for all voters today,” Williams said.
Of the 83 million voters nationwide who have already cast ballots, 45 million did so in person while 38 million mailed in ballots, according to the University of Florida Election Lab. About 37.7% of the early votes were cast by registered Democrats while 35.9% of Republicans voted early, according to the lab.
In the 2020 presidential election, 66% of eligible voters cast ballots, the highest of any national election. President Joe Biden beat Trump 51.31% to 46.85%, according to the Federal Election Commission.
This election is expected to be even closer than 2020.
An ABC News/Ipsos poll released Saturday showed Harris with an overall three-point advantage over Trump among likely voters nationwide, 49% to 46%.
Both Harris and Trump have spent the last week of the campaign barnstorming in battleground states, fighting tooth and nail for every last undecided vote. On Monday, the candidates engaged in a sprint to the finish line, holding multiple rallies in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
In a sampling of nine states, including the battleground states of Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, 54% of the early voters were women and 43.8% were men, according to the lab. The largest block of early voters, 39.4%, were 41- to-65-year-olds, while voters over 65 represented 34.5% of the early vote.
Younger voters — 26 to 40 years old — made up 17.5% of the early vote, while 8.7% of voters 18 to 25 cast early ballots, according to the lab.
Some states like North Carolina, another key swing state, have shattered records for early voting.
More than 4.4 million voters have cast early ballots in North Carolina, 4.2 million of them in person, according to the lab. The North Carolina Board of Elections said the number of early voters broke a record, surpassing the 3.6 million early votes cast in the 2020 election, officials said.
In the swing state of Pennsylvania, at least 1.8 million people voted early via mail-in ballots, according to the Florida Election Lab, which reported that 55.7% of the earlier voters were women and 32.8% were men.
Early voting in Georgia began on Oct. 15, and more than 3.7 million people voted in person, while another 265,648 cast mail-in ballots, according to the lab. A breakdown of the early voters showed 55.7% were women and 43.5% were men, according to the lab.
In other battleground states, Michigan saw 3.2 million voters casting mail-in ballots, 55% women and 44.9% men; 2.3 million cast early mail-in ballots in Arizona, 40.8% of whom are registered Republicans and 32% Democrats, according to the lab.
In Nevada, another swing state, a little over 1 million voters cast early ballots, including 543,271 who voted in person and 556,062 who sent in mail-in ballots, the lab reported. Of those who voted early in Nevada, 37.5% were Republican and 33.7% were Democrat, according to the lab.
And in the battleground state of Wisconsin, 1.5 million people voted early, including 949,157 who cast in-person ballots and 561,616 who cast mail-in ballots, the lab reported.
ABC News’ Olivia Rubin contributed to this report.
(PENSACOLA, Fla.) — A NASA astronaut who experienced a “medical issue” following the successful Space X Crew-8 mission has been released from the hospital, NASA officials said Saturday.
“After an overnight stay at Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola in Florida, the NASA astronaut was released and returned to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston Saturday. The crew member is in good health and will resume normal post-flight reconditioning with other crew members,” NASA said in a statement.
NASA has not publicly named the astronaut.
NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps and Russian astronaut Alexander Grebenkin were in the SpaceX Dragon capsule when it splashed down on Earth on Friday, NASA said.
After a medical evaluation, three of the crew members departed from the facility and arrived at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, NASA said.
One remaining astronaut remained in the hospital and is in stable condition and is under observation as a precautionary measure, NASA said.
Recovery of the crew and spacecraft went without incident, according to NASA.
An additional medical evaluation of the astronauts was requested out of an abundance of caution, NASA said.
(WINDER, Ga.) — Colt Gray, the 14-year-old suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting, is set to face a judge Friday for his arraignment.
This will mark the first court appearance for the teenager, who authorities allege killed four people, including two teachers and two students, at his high school and injured nine others. The Georgia Bureau of Investigations previously said he will be tried as an adult.
He has been charged with four counts of felony murder, with additional charges expected, the GBI said. Gray surrendered at the scene to the school resource officers, according to the GBI.
He was taken into custody on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. ET, seven minutes after the initial service call went out, according to the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office, which employs the school resource officers.
On Thursday night, Colin Gray, the father of the 14-year-old, was arrested and charged with murder in connection with the deadly shooting, the GBI said.
Colin Gray, 54, was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the GBI said.
At a news conference on Thursday evening, Chris Hosey, director of the GBI said that the father was arrested for “knowingly allowing his son, Colt, to possess a weapon.”
It is currently unclear when Colin Gray is expected to appear in court or whether he has obtained legal counsel following his arrest.
